For 100 Iraqi doctors, a return to normal

With two-thirds of the medical specialists having fled Iraq, and with the country's healthcare system shredded by war and sapped bare by corruption, the assembly of Iraqi heart specialists at Ibn al-Bitar Hospital for Cardiac Surgery in Baghdad was a triumph. The meeting marked the first time the conference, sponsored by the hospital and the Iraqi Cardiothoracic Society, was being held since 2003. More than 100 cardiac surgeons and cardiologists from around the country attended the meeting, where they heard talks on mitral valve surgery, angiography, coronary bypass surgery and other procedures to diagnose and treat heart disease.